Habs Rebound At Rexall

The Canadiens may have sucked in Calgary Wednesday night, but apparently, Thursday in Edmonton they didn’t.

A nice and tidy 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. With a goal and an assist from both Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk, which catapults our young phenom Galchenyuk into the lead in team points with seven, which also ties him with Tomas Hertl and Alex Ovechkin for tops in the league.

P.K. added a couple of assists and continues to grab points. If he can just tighten a few other areas up, he’ll be a Norris candidate once again. C’mon PK, tighten up.

I didn’t see the game, only the boxscore, but it was a nice way to wake up and drink coffee with. And instead of doom and gloom in the air, Galchenyuk and Gallagher will be on everyone’s lips.

I can’t wait for Galchenyuk to become the next true Habs superstar. Clear the track, here comes Galchenyuk.

Random Notes:

Edmonton outshot the Canadiens 28-27 but Peter Budaj stopped ’em when he had to.

Brandon Prust, and Max with an empty-netter, also tallied for Montreal.

Habs move up a couple of notches in conference standings to 9th, tied with a host of others. But of course it’s a log jam which will sort itself out as time marches on.

Next stop – Vancouver on Saturday night. How great it would be to see the boys get it done there too. And as in Calgary and Edmonton, Rogers Arena in Vancouver will be packed with Habs fans yelling and celebrating. It makes my heart soar like an Eastern Canary Islands Chiffchaff.

The line changes made by Michel Therien shook things up and produced good results. Putting Eller with Pacioretty and Briere might be worth maintaining since the two Gally’s did quite well playing with Plecky. Putting DD with Bourque and Gionta couldn’t hurt. And the speedy Bournival was not out of place with Moen and Prust. For the moment, Therien had success spreading out the talent and balancing the lines. Managing the personnel so that every line is effective is the mark of a good coach. Things have gotten interesting again and my heart too is soaring like a high-flying bird.

Only two Habs forwards didn’t get shots on goal last night, Pleks and DD. The future of this team consists of the two Gallys, PK, Eller, and MaxPac (who looked the best he has looked this young season). Not sure what ails Pleks, but he has been mediocre so far this season. Bournival didn’t look out of place at all. There IS some talent on this team; it’s just a matter of Michel Therrien using it properly, and in giving less ice time to those who don’t deserve it (and no, to stem the inevitable response, I am NOT referring to just DD. Pleks should be playing less, too, based on his performance so far this season. Ditto Briere and Bourque.).

As an aside, Eller was very lucky that he didn’t get five minutes and a game misconduct for his hit on Hall.

It is a fair question, and there is always a lingering doubt about a player when they are having a slow start. Let’s hope that’s all it is in his case. It’s only been four games and Briere did look good during preseason, so stay tuned…

I truly believe that there is room for improvement in regards to those who are not performing. Specifically, DD, Plekanec and Briere.

The kids are clearly on fire right now and this is going to bring the team forward but I’m in no way giving up or judging the guys above this early in the game. Come mid-November and they’re still pulling a Gomez, we’ll have the right to point fingers. Until then, the definition of a team is for the strong players to pull the weaker ones. There may come a game when the roles are reversed and EGG is being pulled. This is the nature of a team.

I would agree with the list of players whose play needs to improve (A LOT), but upon further reflection, would add Rafael Diaz to the list of the underachievers. Honestly, there’s not a softer player on the team………..